This paper departs from the observation that household debt rose substantially following the
deregulation of the early 1980s. Figure 3 quantifies this expansion, which starts in 1983:I.
Using data from the Flow of Funds Accounts, it plots the ratio of nominal household debt
to the value of household capital (primarily homes and vehicles).15 The ratio grows from
0.32 in 1983:I to 0.42 in 1995:I. The Figure’s dashed line gives the ratio of mortgage debt to
owner-occupied real estate, which displays virtually the same behavior. Both ratios level off
during the second half of the 1990s.